Koncz, Steuerer spark Tigers
By: Bob Nuse
It’s not often that the Princeton University men’s basketball team finds itself officially eliminated from the Ivy League race with six games to go.
But this isn’t a typical Ivy League season for the Tigers.
Instead of worrying about what’s happening with the top teams in the conference, the Tigers are focused on themselves and showing improvement over the final seven games.
This past weekend, PU earned a split in home games against Cornell and Columbia. After opening the weekend with a 57-50 loss to the Big Red on Friday, the Tigers bounced back to beat the Lions, 54-49 on Saturday.
In a typical year, a split at home against Cornell and Columbia would mean slipping out of the Ivy title race. This year, it’s a step forward.
"I thought we played extremely well tonight," Princeton coach Joe Scott said after the win over Columbia raised the Tigers’ overall record to 11-12. "Like I told the guys, the last 70 minutes of this weekend I thought we played extremely well. I’ve been seeing the improvement and tonight we played that way for 40 minutes. We were aggressive. We were tough. The defense has been great and it stayed great for 40 minutes. Our offense got better.
"I thought everybody who played tonight played tough. I can tell our guys have been listening and understanding. We’ve been playing better and I was just happy we played that way tonight. We have to play that way over and over so it becomes our habit."
The Tigers were helped by the extended presence in the lineup of junior Kyle Koncz, who was able to play 25 minutes on Friday and another 23 on Saturday, all off the bench. Koncz led PU with 13 points in the win over Columbia.
Koncz has had his playing time limited by a foot injury, which has hurt the Tiger offense a great deal.
"It’s one of those things where he just feels a little bit better," Scott said. "He felt better today and I was going to try to say 20 minutes for him and he played 23, which is good. I am happy for him because he makes our team better and he makes other players better when he plays for us."
Koncz, who had 18 points in the loss to Cornell, was just happy to be back out on the floor playing. The injury is still there, but he is fighting through the pain to help the Tigers make something out of this lost season.
"This week it felt better," Koncz said. "This morning it was kind of sore. But as I started running at shoot-around this morning it wasn’t that bad. I thought I could play 20 minutes tonight. It felt good.
"I try not to think about (the injury) when I am out on the court. If you think about injuries, you’re not going to play as well as you can. When I am on the court I am just playing basketball and whatever happens, happens."
In addition to having Koncz more available, the Tigers were helped by the continued strong play of guard Kevin Steuerer, who came off the bench to score 12 points on Friday, then had 10 in a starting role on Saturday.
After playing sparingly most of the season, Steuerer played 63 minutes this past weekend.
"He is making a world of difference," Scott said. "What I like about how he is playing is that he is making other guys better. He’s doing it by getting you an extra shot by tipping the ball. The line might show two rebounds, but I know Steuerer was in there doing a lot more. His defense was very good. He makes guys miss. I know he had a good feel for the game. Late in the game when they went to the 1-3-1, you saw a calmness and a knowingness from Steuerer and Schroeder that really was important.
"It seems like Steuerer has been able to bring a little something. In making the decision to start him, obviously he earned it. But I also make the decision based on what I see and I am trying to see how I can help Marcus (Schroeder) out and help Lincoln (Gunn) out. I think with Steuerer in there, it takes a little bit of the load off Marcus. He is playing well, but what I like is that he is helping the other guys out."
In the win over Columbia, the Tigers had an early seven-point lead. But by halftime, the Lions had battled back to tie the score. But Princeton played better in the second half, cutting down on their turnovers to pull away for the win.
"I thought we ran a lot harder," freshman point guard Marcus Schroeder said. "When we’re not turning the ball over we’re getting open shots and our offense just runs a lot better. That was what was stressed at halftime, to not turn the ball over. We did a better job of that in the second half and it helped us extend the lead to a point where we could seal the game.
"We had a bad ending of the first half. It was good to get off to a good start in the second half and that just sort of snowballed and helped us get a win."
With the weekend split, the Tigers are still in last place in the Ivy League with a 2-7 record. With five games left, beginning with a weekend trip to Dartmouth and Harvard, there is still a chance to get to .500 in the league. Or, perhaps, avoid finishing last for the first time in school history.
"I told the guys before the game, we’re 0-0," Scott said. "We just have to focus on this game and being 0-0. We have to play each game that way, because none of the other ones matter except the one you are playing."
That approach worked on Saturday. Now the Tigers get five more shots to see if it works again.

